Well, what about developing countries that don't tend to worry about environmental regulations that much. Who all signed on to the Montreal Protocol? (find it hard to believe that every country in the world did). Or, better yet, who didn't sign on to it?

Edit: Turns out everyone in the UN has ratified it, which surprised me. So I'll have to agree with the comment above mine in that case.

I thought the whole CFL destroying the Ozone was hogwash, and the actual cause of the Ozone hole over the poles was that Ozone have a very short life, and is created by UV light. Since less sunlight hits over the poles, there's less Ozone there.

What is it used for? In other words, what type of industry might we be contemplating is still illegally using/misusing this substance?

It was a very common chemical in daily life prior to the ban.Known as Carbon Tet, it was the most common dry cleaning chemical, and was on the list of reasons you had to be careful with dry cleaned clothes because of residual cleaning chemicals. You could buy this in your local store for home dry cleaning in addition to it's almost universal use in commercial dry cleaning.

Known as Halon 104 it was one of the better fire suppression chemicals that was suitable for electical, oil, fat and other fires where other fire extinguishing chemicals would just make the problem worse

Known as Refrigerant 10 in the HVAC industry it was a popular refrigerant.

This is one of those chemicals that everyone used daily and never paid any attention to because it was so 'safe' despite the product warnings that recommended avoiding any contact with the chemical.

Given the multiple uses and the number of consumer products, it would be surprising if this chemical was not common in landfills and other dump sites.

What is it used for? In other words, what type of industry might we be contemplating is still illegally using/misusing this substance?

It was a very common chemical in daily life prior to the ban.Known as Carbon Tet, it was the most common dry cleaning chemical, and was on the list of reasons you had to be careful with dry cleaned clothes because of residual cleaning chemicals. You could buy this in your local store for home dry cleaning in addition to it's almost universal use in commercial dry cleaning.

Known as Halon 104 it was one of the better fire suppression chemicals that was suitable for electical, oil, fat and other fires where other fire extinguishing chemicals would just make the problem worse

Oh, awesome. When I worked in the office building with a halon fire suppression system I was so worried about being asphyxiated I never thought to worry about the toxicity of the oxygen-displacing gas. I guess it didn't make much difference -- either way, when the fire alarm went off, I got the hell out of there.

I thought the whole CFL destroying the Ozone was hogwash, and the actual cause of the Ozone hole over the poles was that Ozone have a very short life, and is created by UV light. Since less sunlight hits over the poles, there's less Ozone there.

I know of a government location that stores nuclear waste which had a few areas require additional air filtering because carbon tet was leaking out of the barrels (which are designed to not allow pressure build up,which is also filtered ). It was only in the upper part per billions, well below the legal part per millions limit.

Still, the stuff doesn't lend itself to being contained. I think these scientists just didn't properly account for release from landfills and 'cost effective' disposal during the phase out.

I thought the whole CFL destroying the Ozone was hogwash, and the actual cause of the Ozone hole over the poles was that Ozone have a very short life, and is created by UV light. Since less sunlight hits over the poles, there's less Ozone there.

Given that carbon tetrachloride is a neurotoxin and causes liver disease, it's generally a highly regulated substance.

Gee, we used it in High School Chemistry. Then again, we played with mercury then with our bare hands, too.

It never ceases to amaze me WTF we used to think would be a good idea.

I saw a clip of the old Watch Mr. Wizard television program a while back. He was showing the kid-of-the-week how a cloud chamber worked, complete with bare radioactive source that he handled without gloves or anything.

What is it used for? In other words, what type of industry might we be contemplating is still illegally using/misusing this substance?

It was a very common chemical in daily life prior to the ban.Known as Carbon Tet, it was the most common dry cleaning chemical, and was on the list of reasons you had to be careful with dry cleaned clothes because of residual cleaning chemicals. You could buy this in your local store for home dry cleaning in addition to it's almost universal use in commercial dry cleaning.....Given the multiple uses and the number of consumer products, it would be surprising if this chemical was not common in landfills and other dump sites.

About 50 years ago, I remember this stuff in my parents "medicine closet" - I used it once to try to clean paint of a plastic "model" tooth. Was I surprised - didn't do that again. And I do remember the skull and crossbones on the bottle, but I had no intention of ingesting it - However I did use it in an enclosed space..... I'm pretty sure the stuff was not properly disposed of (if there was such a way)

Given that carbon tetrachloride is a neurotoxin and causes liver disease, it's generally a highly regulated substance.

Gee, we used it in High School Chemistry. Then again, we played with mercury then with our bare hands, too.

It never ceases to amaze me WTF we used to think would be a good idea.

Reminds me of that line from MIB: "Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

Forty years ago we knew carbon tetrachloride was safe enough to use in High School Chemistry classes.

Well, what about developing countries that don't tend to worry about environmental regulations that much. Who all signed on to the Montreal Protocol? (find it hard to believe that every country in the world did). Or, better yet, who didn't sign on to it?

Edit: Turns out everyone in the UN has ratified it, which surprised me. So I'll have to agree with the comment above mine in that case.

Well, what about developing countries that don't tend to worry about environmental regulations that much. Who all signed on to the Montreal Protocol? (find it hard to believe that every country in the world did). Or, better yet, who didn't sign on to it?

Edit: Turns out everyone in the UN has ratified it, which surprised me. So I'll have to agree with the comment above mine in that case.

Back when intn'l cooperation to save this planet was still possible (read: over corporate and national economical interests).

The truth is, the chemical companies knew that alternatives were available and they could make as much money or more off them as they did off the banned ones. Industry doesn't mind substitution, what they hate is imposition. They'll substitute one chemical for another, but they won't add something like filters or scrubbers that they see as purely cost with no profit angle.

Just a guess, landfills, some genius buried tons of this stuff and it's slowly seeping out.

I think you're overthinking it. More likely is hundreds of millions of people just tossed old ACs/etc into landfills either due to the fact that at the time they did so it slowly leaking into the atmosphere wasn't considered a problem, not realizing it had to be disposed of specially instead of being just thrown away, or because they're more concerned about saving a buck than doing what's right.

Though I've used the same sponge to clean with a surfactant, and then disinfect with bleach. I never gave it a thought. I know to keep the ammonia and bleach away from each other, but why would I worry about soap and bleach?

I thought the whole CFL destroying the Ozone was hogwash, and the actual cause of the Ozone hole over the poles was that Ozone have a very short life, and is created by UV light. Since less sunlight hits over the poles, there's less Ozone there.

Notice that the destruction of ozone occurs in "spring" for that hemisphere - when sunlight first reappears in the stratosphere over that pole. The ozone hole's size increases during spring as more sunlight causes reactions between the "stored" CFls and the ozone.

According to that article, mixing soap and bleach creates carbon tetrachloride.

Good luck banning that.

Do people typically mix bleach and soap? One is for disinfecting, one is for cleaning...

I suppose people aren't particularly smart though...

Yes they do. With prompting by the large number of cleansers that are sold "w/bleach for extra cleaning power".

Comet with bleach is one of my personal favorites for heavy cleaning. Rubber gloves and goggles recommended as contact for extended times will clean your hands (including removal of skin if you give it enough time) very thoroughly

Caustic Lye is another cleanser that needs to be used with great care. Mixing it with soap is safe though as soap is the result of mixing lye and fat.